Armored illuminated highway marker



Jan. 25, 1955 J. MOCULLOUGH ARMORED ILLUMINATED HIGHWAY MARKER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 5, 1951 0.. u a m o Jan. 25, 1955 .1. MCCULLOUGH ARMORED ILLUMINATED HIGHWAY MARKER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 5, 1951 I W IIweIZZOI Culloyh.

" fliiorlz ty Jan. 25, 1955 J. MCCULLOUGH 2,700,754

ARMORED ILLUMINATED HIGHWAY MARKER Filed May a, 1951 4 Sheec-Sheet 4 25 .23 323330 a3 Z5 Z6 21 if A. NW, 31 2: 44 6a l'iwenfior: Jase ufcuzza iv,

United States Patent ARMORED ILLUMINATED HIGHWAY MARKER Joseph McCullough, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application May a, 1951, SerialNo. 224,423

' 3 Claims. or. 340-116) My invention relates to a new and useful armored illuminated highway marker and has for one of its ob ects to provide a lighting means located on a highway or road at desirable spaced intervals along a dividing line or l nesbetween two or more lanes of trafiic, said dtvidmg l nes being defined only by the present marker or in combination with painted or other suitably designated boundary lines.

. Another object of the invention is to provide a highway marker which may be illuminated during hours of darkness and even during rain, snow and sleet storms, when visibility is usually poor, thus adding to the safety of drivers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a highway marker embodying various colors of lenses to emit various colors of light rays whereby zones of comparative safety, those adjacent danger zones and the actual danger zones will be indicated to drivers'of vehicles using the lanes of travel.

A further object of the invention is to install the marker on the highway or paving with the current supply lines embedded in or under the'filler in the grooves between paving areas which grooves are generally provided to allow for expansion and contraction in concrete paving.

A still further and very important object of the presentinvention is to provide armor means for the lighting system to protect 'the latter from damage in case a vehicle is driven into contact with or over the marker, and said armor means comprising a strong metal casing enclosing a lamp housing and other component parts, said metal casing and housing having normally closed openings to permit access thereto, when necessary.-

With the above and other objects in view this invention consists of'the details of construction and combination'of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same I will describe a construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a highway showing my highway markers installed thereon.

F Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the highway marker with a portion broken out.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation thereof with a part of roadway shown in section.

Fig. 5 is a view partly in plan and partly in section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is a central longitudinal sectional marker as shown in Fig. of said marker.

' Fig. 7 is a section of the marker and roadway at the line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section at the line 8-8 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view, on a reduced scale, of one view of the 3 and the roadway in the region complete marker.

generally formed in separated or partly separated areas or blocks with grooves 18, Fig. 7, between them, which grooves have a filler 19 therein of pitch or other suitable equivalent material that remains elastic whereby expansion and contraction can be compensated for between blocks. The highway may be divided into traffic lanes by the painted line 20, Fig. 1, and/or the highway mark ers 21 comprising my invention.

Each marker 21 includes an armor element in the form of a strong metal casing 22 of desirable length to be mounted directly on top of the road or highway surface in the path of the dividing line between two traffic lanes, as along the mark 20. The casing 22 has apertured cars 23 along the sides at the base through whichbolts 24 are projected and screwed into internally threaded anchor tubes 25 embedded in the roadway and having annular fins 26 to prevent accidental displacement of the anchoring means.

The metal casing 22 is inclined at both ends, Figs. 2, 4, 6 and 10, and has angularly inclined sides, Figs. 7 and 8 and these end and side surfaces blend into one another so as not to present an abrupt obstruction to the wheels of a vehicle and thereby permit the vehicle to run over the marker without damage to either.

The casing 22 is open at the bottom to form a mouth leading to the chamber 27 which is to receive the trans-, parent lamp housing 28, preferably of a suitable plastic; If desired said lamp housing may be opaque and provided with openings suitably located to permit passage of light rays.

The top of the metal casing 22 has access openings 29, the boundary walls of which are beveled to receive the tight fitting closures 30 which are held in place by fastening devices 31, such as screws, Fig. 8. There may be one or more access openings, depending upon the length of the casing and the number of sets of lamps used but generally two openings are suflicient, one adjacent each end of the chamber 27. The heads of the screws 31 are countersunk in order to eliminate any protuberances on the closures 30. Gaskets maybe placed between the closures and the walls of the access openings to insure watertight joints.

To further protect. the interior of the casing against the penetration of dampness, covers 32 are disposed over. the closures and these covers are to be large enough to cover the joints between the closures and their cooperating walls of the casing. The covers 32 may have gaskets under them and said covers are removably held in place by fastening devices 33, Fig. 8, projected through the covers and into the top wall of-the casing 22 and/or the closures 30. In the inclined side walls of the metal casing are formed light emitting port holes 34 having unbreakable lenses 35 mounted therein, Fig. 7. These lenses may be screw threaded in place and rest against shoulders 36 to properly position them whereby the outer surfaces may be flush with or below the surface of the surrounding walls of the casing.

Said lenses may be of any and various colors, such as white, green, amber or red, for a purpose to be later described.

The outer surfaces of the casing walls, especially the side walls, may have longitudinal grooves 37 formed therein, in which are located heating elements 38, such as coils of high resistance wire, and said heating elements are preferably embedded in nonbreakable electrical insulating material to protect the heating elements and also prevent accidental contact therewith. These heating elements are suitably connected to a source of current so they may be used when necessary, as during a snow or sleet storm, to keep the markers from being covered with snow or ice and possibly make them invisible.

The lamp housing 28 preferably extends substantially the full width and length of the chamber 27 but may be slightly shorter to provide space for the accommodation of electric fixtures and wires, in which case the metal casing 22 is provided with short lips 39, Figs. 6 and 10, projecting inwardly from the casing end walls at the bottom thereof to position the lamp housing.

As previously stated, said lamp housing is preferably transparent and produced from plastic. It is of the same general shape, particularly in cross-section, as the chamber 27 so that it cannot be removed from the metal casing except when the latter is lifted from its anchorage. This lamp housing is reinforced or strengthened, especially in the longitudinal axis midway between the ends by a metal plate or panel 40 moulded into the top and bottom walls of said lamp housing. The ends of reinforcing plate have notched ends, as indicated at 41, and one or more holes 42 through the body thereof to lessen interference with the passage of light rays from the lamps.

In the top of the lamp housing are formed access openings 43, the boundary walls of which are beveled to receive the tight fitting closures 44. The access openings 43 are located in alignment with the access openings 29 of the metal casing 22 so that after the covers 32 and the closures 30 are detached the closures 44 can be removed for access to the interior of the lamp housing without lifting the metal casing 22.

On the end walls of the lamp housing 28 within said housing are mounted lamp sockets 45, preferably two at each end, one on each side of the plane of the reinforcing plate 40, by means of fastening devices 46. Lamps 47 with reflectors 48 assembled thereon are mounted in the sockets to provide the necessary light to indicate the positions of the markers and designate the boundaries of the traflic lanes.

Electric wires 49, Fig. 6, are connected to the terminals of the sockets and said wires run through a conduit 50 embedded in the filler 19 in the grooves 18 and having T-fittings 51 which are so located that an arm of each will project through or align with a hole near each end of the lamp casing whereby the wires can be readily connected to the lamp sockets.

In practice, should one lamp go out from any cause whatever, the remaining ones will furnish sufficient light to show the positions of the highway markers and indicate the boundaries of contiguous and/ or adjacent trafiic lanes.

By using white or green lenses on straight away courses, the drivers of vehicles will be cognizant of the fact that the driving should be practically safe, whereas if amber lenses are used this would indicate an approach to a dangerous area and caution should be used in such an area but if red lenses are employed the area is very dangerous and extreme caution should be used while traversing such an area.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described the invention what I claim as new and useful is:

1. An armored illuminated highway marker for indicating a traflic lane boundary, comprising a non-metallic light emitting lamp housing having access openings at the top, one adjacent each end, closures for the access openings in the housing, lamp sockets mounted on the ends of said lamp housing and connected with a source of electricity, lamps mounted in said sockets, a rigid metal casing open at the bottom set over the lamp housing and said casing having an access opening adjacent each end of a size to permit the lamp housing. closures to pass therethrough, the walls surrounding the last named access openings being beveled to provide upwardly facing seats, closures tlghtly fitted in the last mentioned access openings and forming watertight joints, means temporarily fastening the last named closures in place, covers superimposed on said last named closures, means temporarily fastening said covers in place on the casing closures and hiding the casing closure fastening means, said housing having port holes for the passage of light, and lenses mounted in said port holes.

2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the lamp sockets and lamps are arranged in pairs at each end of the lamp housing, and a skeletonized reinforcing plate molded into the lamp housing between the locations of the lamps and in a plane between the individual lamps of each pair.

3. In a device of the kind described, a rigid metal casing having angularly inclined side walls and inclined ends, the interior having a fiat top wall, outwardly and downwardly angular upper side portions and perpendicular lower side portions, said casing being open at the bottom and having access openings in the top, closures removably mounted in said openings, means fastening said closures in place, covers imposed on said closures and hiding the closure fastening means, means fastening said covers in place, a non-metallic lamp housing through which light may pass and having access openings at the top, closures fitted in said access openings, said lamp housing being of the same general contour as the interior of the casing so as to substantially fill and snugly fit said casing when the latter is placed over the housing, lighting means within the lamp housing, said metal housing having light port openings through which light passes, and lenses of pre selected colors mounted in said port openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

